oragami_itto wrote:So why are traditional martial arts apparently moving in the completely opposite direction?
If green comes from blue, then why, even as far back as Yang LU Chan and his sons, has every subsequent generation become weaker and more diluted?
Where do you think your own practice fits in?
It's the lack of competition. Without competition there is no pressure from outside to improve methods so TMA place too much emphasis on tradition.
Doc Stier wrote:The old masters knew better than that, and they typically trained more hours daily than many people nowadays do in a week, with far superior quality and efficiency of movement. To consistently train for many hours everyday in this way changes everything.
Anyone can train hard, but not all train smartly. Likewise, there's a big difference between fighting hard and fighting smart. In the end, we all fight the same as we train.
People should spend time around a serious BJJ/MMA/MT school. They often have people that train all day, every day. Mat rats. Then they fight, get better, raise the level or move on to another school/camp. I've seen nobodies go from nothing to fame just starting locally. It's possible to go from rank amateur to full-time professional. The funnel is there due to competition. The amount of time they put in is tremendous and they have the environment to get better. IMA can't hold a candle to that.
oragami_itto wrote:Are you better or worse than your teacher? Are you doing more or less with your art? Developing it further or stagnating? Is innovation possible within the context of your practice?
Chinese culture has a serious problem with innovation and always has. Confucian ethics posits the idea age was 5000 years ago. When IMA drops the mysticism and the secrecy and becomes a repeatable technology that can be openly taught then innovation will happen naturally. But I won't hold my breath.